By Taliyah Lowe
On November 25, 2020, just when we believed this year couldn’t get any worse, the soccer community lost one of its greatest players of all time: the beloved Diego Maradona. He died at the tender age of 60 years old from a heart attack. His death has led police to start an inquiry surrounding his passing, as Maradona’s lawyer claims that EMS took too long to arrive to the scene to help Maradona after being called.
Maradona was a well-loved Argentinian soccer player. In the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal, he scored both goals that led Argentina to victory over England. This quarterfinal is famous for Maradona for two reasons, one being that the first goal he scored was a unpenalized hand foul. He should have received a yellow card, but in this era of soccer, video assistant referee technology was not created yet. Maradona said he scored the goal “a little with his head, and a little with the hand of God.” That quote has made this specific goal famous, and it’s now known as the “Hand of God.” Also, the second goal he scored in the game was a 66-yard dribble past five opposing England players. This amazing play was just four minutes after the “Hand of God.” In 2002, people voted via FIFA.com that this goal was the goal of the Century. In July 5,1984 he was welcomed in to Naples by 75,000 fans. He quickly rose to his stardom. Maradona led Napoli to their first Series A Italian Championship for the 1986-1987 season. They went on to win another title for the 1989-1990 season, and many more achievements in Italy.
Despite this fame, Maradona went through personal issues off of the soccer field. Starting in the mid 80’s until the year 2004, Maradona was severely addicted to cocaine. He abused drugs and alcohol, which led to many health issues and scares throughout the years.
On November 2, 2020 he had emergency brain surgery to treat a subdural hematoma. He was released from the hospital ten days later and was supervised by doctors as an outpatient in recovery.
In Naples, the Stadio San Pablo stadium was renamed as the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, and on December 4, 2020, it was lit up to honor Maradona. Maradona was a legend for the soccer community worldwide and always will be, but he was also a human who faced demons no one deserves to bare. In the words of Maradona “I am Maradona, who makes goals, who makes mistakes. I can take it all, I have shoulders big enough to fight with everybody.”